Residents return to California towns charred by wildfire

This image provided by Jim Stimson shows the Round fire burning at Wheeler Crest near Bishop Calif. Friday Feb. 6, 2015. Firefighters have gained the upper hand on a wind-driven wildfire that destroyed 40 homes, burned nearly 11 square miles and forced about 150 people to leave two small California towns at the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada.

SWALL MEADOWS, Calif. — Fire officials say the more than 200 residents of two communities ravaged by a wildfire along the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada have been allowed to return home.

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Capt. Liz Brown said Monday evening that people whose homes were not destroyed have been allowed back.

She says the fire is 95 percent contained.

Brown says the owners of the 40 homes that were destroyed by the fire in Swall Meadows and nearby Paradise will be allowed to come and go to salvage what they can.